Unleashing Demons | D.D. Bk. 1 | ✔️

Chapter 18: The Basement

*please read with caution*

My breathing hitched and I felt myself stand rigid, my eyes never leaving its sinister stare. No words could explain how I felt at this moment; eye to eye with pure evil. A low, rumbling snarl erupted from that dark corner, making the new profound fear to ripple throughout my body. There was no doubt that this was some kind of malevolent spirit or-I shivered at the thought-a demon. The urge to run was overwhelming, but I was rooted to the ground-immobilized. Whatever that hides in the shadows, certainly doesn't want us in its domain.

Gideon's grip on my wrist tightened, my fingers protesting at the constriction. I could feel him standing just as stiff as I am, but his alarming energy surged through me like a tidal wave. "Fuck. This is not worth it." I heard him muttered to himself. Then audibly he spoke directly to us. "We have to get out of here."

I withhold myself from giving him a pointed look, almost certain that the entity would pounce on us if I looked away. Never did I ever sense him in such a panic mode; he seemed to always have control in any situation. To see Gideon in this new light concerned me. It made our condition gravely dangerous.

Changing his hold from my wrist to my hand, Gideon hastily pulled me towards the exit. As we were about to escape, a loud slam reverberated the basement-briefly making me jump out of my skin. I then bumped into something hard, only realizing it was Gideon's back.

"The door won't budge!" Vaughn exclaimed in the same alarming tone. He repeatedly turned the doorknob with his hands and tried busting our only way out with his shoulder-only failing.

Gideon swore again and turned. He tugged on my arm until I'm safely shielded behind him. Immediately, their beams of light bounced back to the corner where the pair of red eyes glared at us.

But it wasn't there.

Disturbed, they made a quick sweep of the room only finding it empty besides ourselves. Gideon's shoulders slightly relaxed, but his anxiety receded into wariness. Surely its absence should offer some sort of reassurance, but it only intensified the dread we're currently facing.

I braced myself for the worst. The chilly atmosphere continued to drop significantly, covering my skin with goose bumps. My vision started to cloud from my nervous breaths. It was too quiet. The deafening silence was overbearing it could send anyone sane to the edge.

Out of nowhere, a pressure surrounded my right ankle and I was being dragged back to the center of the room.

A scream left my lips as my fingers pathetically attempt to hold on to the floor. I caught a quick glimpse of Gideon; his face mimicked my own horrified reaction. His shouted for me and hand missed my outstretched one by inches. The exposed skin from my body endured a searing sensation as I collided with the not-so-smooth surface.

With a blink of an eye, my point of view flipped vertically and I was dangling in mid-air-my foot almost touching the ceiling. Promptly, the whole hospital thundered with pandemonium; a confusion of shouts, screams and growls blare my ears. My head throbbed as it grew heavier by the second when all blood flow decided to go south.

The constraint on my ankle hardened for the last time before finally releasing me. I was falling head first to the ground, my hair whipped at my face as I plummeted. Knowing how grave the injuries would be, I quickly shifted my own body, aiming to at least lessen the damage once I hit the ground.

The last thing I remembered was how I landed directly at the Conjurer's mark before passing out.

# # # # # #

"Alex!"

My legs moved instinctively as she was yanked upwards by the ankle. A pang of dreadful familiarity ran through my veins and my mind subconsciously drifted to unwanted memories of the past. It was déjà vu all over again but this time, there's no escape.